Local Catholics optimistic for new pope

Miguel Bedolla, the dean of students at Mexican American Catholic College, remembers being told a Jesuit would never be pope.

“I was crying,” Bedolla said about his reaction to Jorge Mario Bergoglio becoming Pope Francis I.

But the new pontiff’s Latin American roots, Bedolla said, won’t — or shouldn’t — matter.

“I don’t think it makes a difference. He’s not going to be a Latin American Pope,” Bedolla said hours after the new pope was introduced Wednesday. “He’s going to be the pope for the whole church. I just rejoice in seeing the fact that he was elected and the fact he seems to be a very humble and saintly man.”

Father Michael Bouzigard, of Our Lady of Guadalupe Church, a Jesuit parish, said both Pope Francis’ Latin American and Jesuit background sends a message.

“It’s a hopeful sign for our church, not only in Latin America, but in the U.S., especially where there’s a huge Hispanic presence,” Bouzigard said.

However, for others a new pope doesn’t make much of a difference.

“For me it doesn’t really matter. Whoever the Pope is, wherever he’s from — it doesn’t really matter,” said Jesus Lara, owner of La Chiquita Bakery. Lara, a Catholic, admitted he is much more concerned about his work.